Newfoundland

Geography

• Follow the Appalachians northeast, out of Maine, through New Brunswick, swim across Cabot Strait to the island, where you will find the western edge to be the last of the Appalachians.

• Easternmost part of Canada, across the Atlantic from Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Portugal, UK, France, Spain

• Island about 43000 square miles surrounded by 10500 miles of coastline and cold sea.

Climate

• Cold, due to latitude and being surrounded by cold sea.

• More temperate than inland, due to tempering of the sea.

• Wet – proximity to ocean, as well as having lots of fresh-water bodies on the island and getting a lot of precipitation

Political Overview

• Europeans first noticed it in 1497, when John Cabot landed on the feast day of St. John in what is now the capital, St. John.

• Settled by Norse and western European sea-faring types –Portuguese, Irish, British, Spanish, French

• Island separated them from the inland and its issues, but still dealt with territory disputes between primarily French & English, like much of Canada

• Poor Irish came over mostly as labor.

• Speak almost entirely English, but have their own dialects, most of which sound very Irish.

Adaptations from native to European fishing methods and

culture!

Native Beothuk methods of

hunting/gathering/fishing

• Coastal existence

• Fish, seals, waterfowl

• Small boats

• Hunting land animals

• Forced inland by arrival of Europeans

• Lived on coast originally for a reason – hunting not so good away from the sea – starvation contributed to decline.

Initial use of land for fishing by Europeans

• Dealing with the natives

– Trade – lack of trust, no real trade with Beothuk

– Thievery – Whites would leave for winter and Beothukwould strip settlements of anything useful – then stopped waiting for them to leave

– Alliances – attempts at allying whites ended in bloodshed

– Exterminations – French allegedly armed & employed Micmac in helping to exterminate Beothuk from the north

– Present relationships with tribes – Beothuk are extinct –small numbers of other tribes live on the island

Adaptation of native dogs

• On the boats

»Rescue of men falling overboard

»Hauling nets

»Fetching in water

»Pulling boats

• On shore

»Unmatched guard dog

»Pulling carts to market

Adaptation of native dogs

• Breeding possibilities

»Started with native black dog used by Beothuks to haul nets and hunt

»Viking bear dogs from boats?

»Portuguese Water Dogs?

»Great Pyrenees from the French?

»Mastiffs from Britain?

Adaptation of native dogs

• Continued use

»Water rescue

»Guard dogs

Evolution of fish preservation

• Salted on shore for sale in Europe

• Frozen on boats – no more need for salt-drying on shore

• Large factory style packing

Old Style of Fishing

New Style

Fish as the common denominator between

understood European food tradition and

available species.

• Importation of wild and domestic species after settlement , to supplement the fishing industry

– Today’s main plant crops: hay, potatoes, alfalfa, blueberries, rutabagas, and cabbage.

Wild water bird hunting

• Still hunt wild birds

• Right to hunt condition of becoming part of Canada

The Newfoundland Economy

1500’s

• Spanish and Portuguese were the only non-natives fishing the area.

• The Spanish and Portuguese fished to make a profit; where as the Micmacs fished for their own survival.

Cod drying in a traditional way

Cod is then Canned

1600’ Profit

• Cod was salted immediately after being caught, in the early days .

• Later it was frozen and canned when the ship got back to shore.

Culture

• All sources of income in Newfoundland came from the fishing industry.

• All residence of Newfoundland were connected to the cod fishing industry in some way or another.

• When the cod were all gone so was the culture that killed off all the fish.

Where are all the people…

Aquaculture Influence on Social & Political Structure

Native People’s Role in the Fishing Industry

• Micmac people heavily

inhabited this region

• The Micmac economy

was almost entirely based

on fishing

Aquaculture Influence on Social & Political Structure

Arrival of the Europeans

• 1550s: Basque and Portuguese began fishing at the Bella Strait Isle

• 1713: Peace of Utrecht gave control of Newfoundland to the British

• 1763: Treaty of Paris was signed

Aquaculture Influence on Social & Political Structure

Fishery Regulation

• 1890: ninety percent of those living in Newfoundland were involved in the fishing industry

• 1911: Hague Tribunal granted Newfoundland control of it’s bays and fishing rights.

• 1971: Newfoundland, Fishermen, Food, and Allied Worker’s Union allowed the locals to regain their original rights, and banned foreigners from using the area to fish

Aquaculture Influence on Social & Political Structure